Displaying items by tag: Coal

India/Indonesia: India Cements has purchased an 100% share of Raasi Minerals through its subsidiary Coromandel Minerals. The Singapore-based company owns a controlling stake in several coal mines in Indonesia. No value for the transaction has been disclosed.

India: The Ministry of Coal has cancelled Jaypee Cement’s coal block at Mandla in Madhya Pradesh citing breach of agreement. In a letter the ministry said that the cement producer was ‘not serious about the development of the coal mine,’ according to the Business Standard newspaper. The ministry has accused Jaypee Cement of switching the plant using coal from the mine without permission and of exceeding the agreed output.

The Mandla coal mine was allocated to Jaypee Cement in March 2015 after a bidding process. At first it supplied Jaypee’s Balaji cement plant in Andhra Pradesh. However, production from the mine switched to the Shahabad cement plant in June 2017 following the acquisition of the Balaji plant by UltraTech Cement.

Vietnam: Tata International Singapore has signed a memorandum of understanding with Vissai Cement Group to form a joint venture company in to use the port of Vinh. The deal is expected to create a distribution network for coal, according to the Press Trust of India. The company will also be responsible for Vissai Cement’s coal imports. The joint-venture is expected to benefit from the port’s location as a key gateway for trade into and out of Laos.

Pakistan: The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) has expressed its concern over a ‘sharp’ rise in coal and fuel prices have increased the production cost of cement. Sources quoted by the association have blamed the implementation of supply side measures in China to limit its coal mining capacity, according to the Nation newspaper. A recent surge in coal prices has also followed stricter local rules on coal transportation. The association has called on the government to avoid ‘disruptive policies’ that impact construction growth.

India: The credit agency ICRA forecasts that rising energy and freight costs due to higher pet coke, coal and diesel prices during the first half of 2017 – 2018 financial year may hit the profits of cement producers. Petcoke prices grew by 32% year-on-year in the first half of the year and coal prices rose by 44%, according to the Press Trust of India. Sabyasachi Majumdar, an analyst at ICRA, said that higher power, fuel and freight costs were likely to continue. He added that the ability of cement companies to raise their prices was crucial to maintaining profit levels.

China/Russia: Mechel has signed a memorandum for coal supply with China’s Jidong Cement. The Russian mining and metals company will supply the Jidong Cement with up to 3Mt of steam coal mined at Elgaugol’s Elga Open Pit and Yakutugol’s Neryungrinsky Open Pit. Prices will be adjusted on a monthly basis following negotiations and on the basis of index rates.

The first crew found dark smoke coming from inside a building containing the coal hopper. Due to the inherent volatility of coal dust, the firefighters made a careful entry into the building and quickly dealt with the fires. Bussell said that GCC Dacotah's comprehensive emergency response plan, implemented after a review by both the cement plant and fire department officials in mid 2016, helped to minimise the effects of the fire. "This open dialogue and communication was key to a safe, quick response and resolution of the incident," Bussell said in a release.

Bussell added that GCC Dacotah expected no disruption to plant operations because the fire was in a part of the plant that is in the middle of a US$90m expansion project.

Pakistan: Rising coal prices are presenting a risk to the profit margins of cement manufactures in Pakistan. It is expected that this sustained rise in coal prices will increase the cost of cement production in the short-term.

Major contributory factors to the higher coal prices include China’s imposition to cut production to 276 days to reduce the supply glut since October 2016, while extra safety checks are resulting in tightened domestic coal supplies in the country. Moreover, tropical storms in the Atlantic basin and floods in Australia and Indonesia are giving rise to logistical issues with coal supply. Nuclear outages in France are driving extra competition for coal.To add to the already worsened supply situation, South Africa`s National Union of Mine workers (NUM), which represents 70% of employees in the coal mining sector, started a strike on 19 November 2017 over unresolved wage disputes.

India: ACC’s cement sales rose by 18% year-on-year to 5.96Mt in the third quarter of 2017 from 5.07Mt in the same period of 2016 as its Jamul and Sindri plants have come online. Its sales volumes increased by 10% to 19.3Mt in the first nine months of the year. Net sales rose by 16.5% to US$1.46m in the first three quarters and its net profit after tax rose by 27% to US$110m.

Despite its positive result the cement producer warned against rising import costs from higher slag prices and fuel costs. Higher usage of imported and auctioned coal, caused by a limited availability of linkage coal, adversely affected fuel costs. However, the company said that it partly mitigated this through improved raw material mixtures and fuel mix optimisation.